One important issue affecting emergency personnel is the need to cross state borders to provide care. The National Association of State EMS Officials has proposed an interstate Compact be offered to help the day-to-day emergency deployment of EMS personnel crossing state boundaries.
In October 2012, the Department of Homeland Security in their Office of Health Affairs funded a project to draft documents to make this possible. A National Advisory Panel was formed and tasked with examining the current landscape of challenges facing state licensure of EMS personnel with objective to present their ideas and recommendations. The recommendations are under consideration and the Compact is scheduled to be developed by May 2014.
The National EMS Information System or (NEMSIS) is a national repository that would be useful for states to use. The need for EMS information systems and databases has been well established with many statewide data systems created. However these EMS systems vary in their ability to collect patient and systems data and enable analysis at a local, state, and national level.
For example, Minnesota uses a new web-based statewide data system called Minnesota Statewide Ambulance Reporting (MNSTAR) that has positioned Minnesota into a national leadership position in EMS data collection.
The state is working with a comprehensive centralized solution called “ImageTrendEMS Service Bridge™” which is a comprehensive EMS run data management system used to accumulate, analyze, and report on data. This system is rated as a NEMSIS Gold compliant system and is able to collect and manage data at a service or multi-service level.